My Week

Not a big sewing week for me -- actually very little sewing done at all.  I don't have any particular project that I am working on so I have very little motivation to sew.    

Monday was my YD's birthday.  We had a very quiet dinner (well, as quiet as it gets around here) and dessert. 

 

 

This is her "cake".  It's really pudding and more pudding and whipped cream.  Very yummy.

  

On Thursday, this was delivered to my office.  I had pre-ordered it so I didn't know when it was coming.  I'm very excited, lots of projects from Ayumi at Pink Penguin. 

 

Then on Saturday, we went to a bunch of yard/garage sales.  At the first one I got the following:  an old Vogue sewing magazine, a Butterick pattern for a vest, and an old singer book on altering clothes.  They were $.50 each.  I also got a pyrex bowl for $.50 (not pictured).  I'll be sure to note these in my list as four more $1 items (I'll have to change that to items ≤ $1).

 

Then at another yard sale I got this fabric.  It's Look and Learn from American Jane from around 2007.  Not sure exactly how much there is, but there is over a yard of the main fabric, a charm pack, and over a yard of a light blue stripe that was part of the line.  There were also a couple of yards of white muslin.  It was a kit of some sort.  I think I will use the main fabric as a backing but I'm not sure what to do with the rest.  I had thought baby quilt but my YD doesn't think the vintage look of the fabric is good for a baby quilt.

 

 

 

Then also on Saturday (or was it Friday?), I received a package from the Fat Quarter Shop.  My YS and DIL had given me a gift certificate for Christmas and I finally used it -- mostly because I needed to get the Grinch fabric.

The other fabric I got was from the Noteworthy by Sweetwater line.  Katie had given me a charm pack and I felt like I needed more of the fabric -- again I don't know what I am going to do with this. All suggestions welcome.

On Friday night, I finished reading To Kill a Mockingbird. Another item off my list -- and it was pretty good too.  I've seen the movie but it was so long ago that I had forgotten most of it. I want to re-watch the movie now.  I'll check Netflix or Amazon Prime.

On Saturday night, we watched Argo.  Even though I knew the end result, I was chewing my nails through the whole thing. I recommend seeing it. I really like Ben Affleck and John Goodman.

Guess that's it for now.

March Roundup

My 6 year blogiversary was March 9. You'd think I'd remember such a momentous day, but I didn't.

Anyway, I thought I would do a mid-March update of my goals.

1 - finish KP

Done.  No pictures until after the wedding.

2 - finish Blue Elephants.

Done.

3 - make pillow cases for the boys.
Done. I haven't given them to the boys yet.  I showed them to their dad and he said to wait.

and though not on the list, I made some new covers for the two small cushions on our couch. I had made the old covers, bu they were showing their age, plus these match much better.
Susan (Canadian Abroad) gave me the idea for doing them in corduroy. I also used zippers. I learned a little more about zippers, but I sure have a lot more to learn; I think next time I'll use a pattern so I can do it right.

4 - work on duvet cover (this is dependent on my dear friend Jane ...) nope.

5 - work with scraps left over from the time quilt (need to finish the quilt top)
I made two blocks, which I have to press and see what I think of them.  Since I didn't make a commitment to more than this, I consider it done -- I didn't say I'd finish it this month.  That's for April I think.

6 - make a sock monkey
Got the batting for this ... it's a start.

7 - get one yard of fabric for Grinch quilt
Done. Ordered from Fat Quarter Shop (and received).

 

8 - buy one stocking stuffer for the girls (almost .. got three out of the five I wanted to get)

9 - take craftsy class (probably paper piecing) -- nope.

I'll make my April goals and post them early next week.

Wordless Wednesday

Favorite Things Friday (Saturday Edition)

I just got home so I'm very late in posting my favorite this week. I'm struggling to come up with one favorite so here's a bunch ...

my electric blanket
my ipod
turning my music up as loud as I want in the car
singing along loudly (and off key) in the car
eating Oreos
eating more Oreos
visiting with friends
talking with my sisters
watching a good movie
watching a funny movie
baby laughter
giggles
McDonald's mocha frappe
a hot shower
the devil cat
sleeping in
a good book
a hug
another hug

.. check out other favorites at Quilting in My Pyjamas.  If you want, you can link up and share one of your favorites too! I know we'd all love to see some of yours.

Wordless Wednesday

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15 Minute Challenge

Tonight I am coming to the end of my very, very long weekend (six days to be exact).  I was hoping to get lots of sewing done and various other things as well.  I did sew for several hours on three of the six days, but that was all the sewing done this weekend. 

Today was a complete sewing bust as I watched my grandsons. I learned that I can handle just about seven hours and then I need a break; unfortunately, I was needed for almost nine hours.  Fortunately, my husband came home at 7.5 hours and relieved me.  I don't know how I ever did it with five kids .. of course, I was much younger then. I suppose that if I did it every day, it might become "easier" or perhaps I would get used to it. Let's hope I don't have to find out.

So anyway, here's how my week went.

tuesday - ??
wednesday - ??
thursday - got zippers, etc., worked on KP
friday - made pillowcases and cushion covers.
saturday -finished binding on  Blue Elephants
sunday -finished KP
monday - nothing

Here are some pics of the Blue Elephant quilt. I'm very pleased with it except for the part where the binding isn't right.  I'm still trying to decide if I should re-do the binding in that area.

So, in keeping with Kate's theme this month, what do you all think.  Should I fix the binding (that I probably should have fixed before I washed the quilt)?

Pop on over to Kate's 15 Minute Challenge to see how others did this week.

Favorite Things Friday

My favorite today is skype.

This is a picture of Lucy Rabbit, from Australia, sitting on their sign.  In case you don't know Lucy, she is on a world trip and we were lucky enough to have her stop by our house for about a month for a visit. But I digress.  Skype's offices are within walking distance of my office and when she was here I took her picture sitting on the sign.  She didn't mind, but was a little afraid of falling because it was very high.

Anyway, skype is my favorite today because skype is video conferencing on a personal level. It's like something out of a sci-fi movie -- talking and seeing someone at the same time.

I am able to talk with my daughter in the Caribbean (who is going to medical school there). My daughter will be there until August and without skype we wouldn't be able to see her until then.  We "skype" fairly regularly -- though she wants to do it more to see her nephews than to see me.  Skype feels a little bit more like a visit than a phone conversation. 

Before today, that was the only skyping I had done (talking with my daughter), and I confess, I'm not very good at it.  I need more practice.

Anyway, through skype, I was able to meet Mrs. P (of Quilting in My Pyjamas) today.  It was fun.  We talked/visited for over an hour.  I got to meet her dogs, cats, and husband.  I wasn't as friendly though, I stayed in my room and the only one she saw was the devil cat and he was sleeping. I probably should have taken her around to everyone to say "hi".  In my defense, the computer was running low on battery power and I had to re-charge it.  Anyway, it was a great time that I hope to repeat.

For more favorites, click here to check out Quilting in My Pyjamas and see what others have picked as their favorite this week or link up and post about one of your favorites.

Wordless Wednesday (almost)

(Photo by Neil Hodges)

15 Minute Challenge

This week started out great .. and then the weekend hit.  You'd think with more time I'd get more done.  The problem is that I always think there's plenty of time and then the day is over.

Tuesday - worked on KP
Wednesday - worked on KP; cut binding for blue elephants
Thursday - worked on KP
Friday - worked on KP
Saturday - worked on KP
Sunday - nothing
Monday - more nothing

I am home today and am hoping to finish KP and put the binding on Blue Elephants.  We'll see.  First I'm having lunch with my husband ...

Anyway, hop on over to Kate's place and see what others have been up to.

Favorite Things Friday

I think my favorite this week is a good night's sleep.  I am hoping to get one tonight.  I will remove the 5:45 alarm from my phone (I forgot that last night), so it doesn't wake me up too early.  No early plans tomorrow.  Just need to get to the vet by 9 a.m. to have the devil cat's stitches removed, but nothing before then.  The vet is about 10 minutes away so I don't have to get up until about 8:30.  yay! sleeping in.  Just as long as the devil cat doesn't nag me tonight, and try to sleep under the covers, I'm good.

Well, off to see if I can get my favorite ...

Oh, check out Quilting in My Pyjamas and see what other favorites are going on this week.

good night!

March goals

Things I want to get done in March.

1 - finish KP
2 - finish Blue Elephants
3 - make pillow cases for boys
4 - work on duvet cover (this is dependent on my dear friend Jane ...)
5 - work with scraps left over from the time quilt (need to finish the quilt top)
6 - make a sock monkey
7 - get one yard of fabric for Grinch quilt
8 - buy one stocking stuffer for the girls
9 - take craftsy class (probably paper piecing)



I think that's it for now.

Wordless Wednesday

Me, My Mom, and my sister Anna.

 

15 Minute Challenge - Again

Another week has passed. My list of what I did looks better than it really was. I think I may have made things up on at least one of the days since I didn't keep track as I went along. I don't feel like I did very much but I am feeling excited about sewing/crafting/quilting (even knitting). So here's my week:

Tuesday - nothing
Wednesday - cut fabric for Katie's project (KP)
Thursday - knitted blanket
Friday - cut oil cloth for KP
Saturday - bought fusible lining / thread / zippers
Sunday - cut fusible interfacing for KP; made triple zip pouch
Monday - finished quilting Blue Elephants

I'm happy with the way Blue Elephants looks with the quilting. I need to make some labels. Wish I had a cute shop name or something to put on labels, but I don't. I'm thinking I should label my quilts something like this:

Of course, I would change the date to coincide with the giving of the quilt and maybe include the baby's name .... I need to make a couple of baby girl quilts. think pinks, yellows, purples.

Kate suggests this month that we "talk about our crafting". This blog is obviously my platform for doing just that, but I'm thinking maybe that I'll get into the "nitty gritty" of what I do, kind of going through the process. Anyway, to see what everyone else has done this week, check out the 15 minute challenge at Life in Pieces (you can even link up too!)